In Eastern Flanders in Belgium, Saint Nicolas doesn’t come at all and neither does Santa Claus. Saint Martin is the one who brings the sweets and presents in the middle of the night between November 10th and 11th. The sweets that the kids normally would get are: chocolate figurines, chocolate letters, little dry cookies...

Here’s the legend of St. Martin and his donkey from the area of Dunkerque, France… St. Martin was journeying one very dark night with his donkey. The animal took off into the dunes. The children in the town were given lanterns to help find St. Martin’s donkey. They quickly found it. ...

On St. Martin’s Day in Germany, November 11th, children parade at night carrying lanterns. Sometimes the parade ends with a bonfire. Kids often go door to door caroling and receiving treats or money. People also eat goose and Wechmann (a sweet bread in the shape of a gingerbread man). Here are two songs children...

November 11th is St. Martin’s Day! It’s celebrated in parts of Belgium, Holland, Netherlands, Austria, Germany, France, Poland, Latvia and Estonia and it commemorates the day St. Martin was buried. In the pre-Christian era, mid November was celebrated as a festival of light and fertility. Leftovers from these earlier pagan rites became mixed up...